IMAGEN

Aims
The IMAGEN study is a large‐scale, longitudinal, imaging genetic study that combines brain imaging, genetics, and psychiatry to increase our understanding of adolescent brain development and behaviour – namely, sensitivity to rewards, impulsivity, and emotional processing. Research teams from London, Nottingham, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Hamburg, Mannheim and Dresden have been following 2,000 young people and their parents from the age of 14, collecting data from brain imaging, cognitive and behavioural assessments, questionnaires and blood sampling.

Institution
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London

Geographic coverage - Nations
England
Ireland, France, Germany

Geographic coverage - Regions
London; Nottingham

Start date
2007

Website
imagen-project.org/heaf

Catalogue record last updated
12/05/2026

Sample type
Cohort study

Sample details
Participants were recruited from high schools at age 14. To obtain a diverse sample in terms of socio-economic status, emotional and cognitive development, private, state-funded and special units were targeted equally. To maximize ethnic (Caucasian) homogeneity, at each study centre recruitment focused on geographical areas with minimal ethnic diversity. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria are detailed in Schumann and colleagues (2010).

Sample size at recruitment
2,000

Sample size at most recent sweep
Approximately 1,200 (2019 - Third Follow-Up)

Sex
All

Age at recruitment
14 years

Cohort year of birth
1993